2 Sinking!

Chapter 2 SINKING! "It's the Egg-Mobile!" said Andrew. Through the egg's window, Andrew and Judy saw a big blue parrot. It was flapping its wings frantically. "That's Burpp inside!" said Judy. "Burpp" was short for Bob's Ultra-Robot Parrot Partner. Burpp belonged to Soggy Bob Sloggins. "Burpp looks scared," said Judy. "Holy moly" said Andrew. "The Egg-Mobile has big cracks in it. I think we have to rescue Burpp!" "But what if this is a trick?" said Judy. "What if we rescue Burpp and he tries to take over the

Water Bug?" Andrew thought for a moment. "We'll tie him up before we let him in," he said. Andrew pressed a black button on the dashboard and spoke into a microphone. "Cut the rope," he said. "Get Burpp out of the Egg-Mobile and use the rope to tie him up. Then bring Burpp into the Water Bug." glurp… "A bad idea," said the Water Bug. "But if you insist…" The hood of the Water Bug popped open. The long gray tentacles of the Octo-Tool twirled out from under the hood. One of the tentacles carried scissors. Lightning fast, it cut the rope that tied the Egg-Mobile to the sawfish's tail. The sawfish sped away. The other tentacles yanked at the window of the Egg-Mobile. The window was also the Egg- Mobile's door. But the tentacles couldn't open it. Three of the tentacles ducked back under the hood. When they came out again, they were carrying hammers. They began to bang away at

the white shell. Inside the Egg-Mobile, Burpp pecked the walls with his beak. KRAAACK! The giant egg split in two! Burpp tumbled out. The Octo-Tool tentacles grabbed Burpp, tied up his feet, and towed him under the hood of the Water Bug. A few seconds later, two big parrot feet poked through the rubber flap under the Water Bug's steering wheel. Andrew yanked one foot and Judy tugged the other.

Awk! "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Burpp squawked from under the hood. "Wait a minute," said Judy. She stopped tugging Burpp's foot and made Andrew stop, too. "Can we really trust you?" she asked. Awk! "Promise!" said Burpp. "On my bird of honor!" "You'd better be telling the truth," said Judy. She grabbed a scaly leg and pulled. "Moof!" she groaned. "I think he's stuck." "Oofers!" said Andrew. "This isn't easy!" Awk! "This not easy for Burpp, either!" squawked Burpp. "Burpp is getting squashed down to parakeet size!" "One, two, three… PULL!" said Judy. Klink, klink, klink… With a tinkle of metal feathers, Burpp burst through the flap. Burpp's wing smacked Judy in the nose and poked Thudd out of Andrew's pocket.

"You'll have to get in the back," said Judy, shoving Burpp's tail feathers over the front seats. Instead of having a backseat like other cars, the Water Bug had a tiny bathroom and a kitchen. Burpp landed between the bathroom door and the kitchen sink. Awk! "Burpp is grateful to you, little Dubbles!" said Burpp. "Soggy Bob left the Egg-Mobile stuck on the coral reef. Then Burpp saw the sawfish. Burpp used the Egg-Mobile claws to rope him! The sawfish pulled the Egg-Mobile off the reef. "But the Egg-Mobile hit a rock. Everything broke! No power! No steering! The claws wouldn't let go of the rope! Burpp could have been stuck to the tail of that sawfish forever!" Andrew looked Burpp in the eye. "You know we've got to find the giant squids before Soggy Bob does," he said. "We can't let Soggy Bob turn them into giant squidwiches." Awk! "Burpp will help you!" said Burpp. "Soggy Bob is loony as a gooney bird and only getting worse!"

"Okay" said Andrew. "Let's go! Judy untie Burpp's feet." Andrew pressed the gas pedal. But instead of speeding ahead, the Water Bug bounced up and down in the water like a pogo stick. Kerchunk… kerchunk… kerchunk… "Uh-oh," said Andrew. The Water Bug began to zigzag down. Blurghhhh… It sputtered and sank. The buttons and dials on the dashboard blinked. The headlights flickered. "Cheese Louise!" said Judy. "We're losing power and sinking fast!"